Watching them

If you want to find out what company owns a brand - transnationale.org is a prime place to check. It is an extensive database that not only tracks the brand ownership of multinationals but also connects them to environmental and labor violations.

The Washington Post researched the Pioneers, people who organized the contribution of over $100,000 to the Bush campaign. This pdf visualizes their relationships to Bush, wheter they be personal, corporate or otherwise.

They say the personal is political, and it is especially true for the people listed on this site. Political Friendster (developed by Doug McCune), "allows users to create connections between political figures. This site depends on user involvement for its success! Feel free to add any people you want to the database and create connections between people and corporations. The only thing we ask is that you limit your contributions to serious entries.

"More than 60% of U.S. corporations didn't pay any federal taxes for 1996 through 2000, years when the economy boomed and corporate profits soared, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported, citing the investigative arm of Congress." From a CNN article titled: Many Firms Avoided Taxes in Boom. And this was before Bush's tax breaks for the rich.

Sometimes while going through the corporate websites we have come across some strange but facinating insights into the corporate worldview. Risks In Global Filmmaking is a map by Aon and Albert G. Ruben is a beautiful example of how they see the world. The description of Argentina is exemplary - summed up as "Medium" risk and described as a "fragile economy produces some political problems, including strikes..."

Twice a week I stand outside on a street corner and try to engage strangers in conversations about politics. This would be much harder without a copy of Socialist Worker in my hand. Read it cover to cover every week - amaze your friends with your knowledge of class struggle and the possibilities for resistance to the profit system that creates wars, wrecks lives and destroys the planet we live on. Another world is possible!

"We hear from Kurt Eichenwald, whose book The Informant is about the price fixing conspiracy at the food company ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, and the executive who co-operated with the FBI in recording over 250 hours of secret video and audio tapes, probably the most remarkable videotapes ever made of an American company in the middle of a criminal act." The Fix is In is one of the best episodes of the excellent radio series This American Life.